Genuine Lies

wouldn’t talk to me about it, so I went in for a conference. I wanted it straightened out because Brandon’s just not a troublemaker.”
    “I know.”
    “Anyway, it turned out that they were making up Father’s Day cards toward the end of the school year, and Brandon didn’t want to make one. He, well, he didn’t want to.”
    “Understandable.” Paul poured boiling water over tea bags. “And?”
    “And this teacher said he was expected to treat it as an assignment, and when he refused, she punished him. I tried to explain the situation, that Brandon was sensitive in that area. And with this tight-lipped sneer she said he was spoiled and willful and enjoyed manipulating others. She said if he wasn’t taught to accept his situation, he’d continue to use his accident of birth—those were her words—accident, as an excuse not to become a productive member of society.”
    “I hope you slugged her.”
    “Actually, I did.”
    “No.” Now he had to grin. “Really?”
    “It’s not funny,” she began, then felt a bubble of laughter in her throat. “I don’t remember hitting her exactly, though I recall a few of the names I called her as people came rushing in to pull me off her.”
    He picked up her hand, weighed it in his, then kissed it. “My hero.”
    “It wasn’t nearly as satisfying as it sounds now. At the time I was sick and shaky, and she was threatening to sue. They calmed her down when the whole story came out. In the meantime, I pulled Brandon out of the school and bought the place in Connecticut. I wouldn’t have him subjected to that kind ofthinking, that kind of nastiness.” She let out a long breath, then another. “I felt exactly the same way tonight. I know if Eve had come near me, I would have hit her first and been sorry about it later.” Julia looked down at the cup he set in front of her. “I used to wonder where I got that streak of mean from. I guess I know.”
    “It scared you, what she told you tonight.”
    Julia let the tea slide into her system and soothe. “Yes.”
    He sat beside her, rubbing fingers at the base of her neck, knowing instinctively where the bulk of the tension would be lodged. “Don’t you think she was scared too?”
    Carefully, aligning the base of the cup with the rim of the saucer, she looked up. “I’m afraid I can’t really think about her feelings yet.”
    “I love you both.”
    She saw now what she hadn’t been able to see before. He’d been as shocked as she, and perhaps nearly as hurt. He was hurting still, for both of them. “Whatever becomes of all this, she’ll always be more your mother than she could ever be mine. And, I guess, since we both love you, we’ll all have to find a way to deal with it. Just don’t ask me to be reasonable tonight.”
    “I won’t. I will ask you something else.” Taking her hands he drew her to her feet. “Let me love you.”
    It was so easy, so simple, to move into his arms. “I thought you’d never ask.”
    Upstairs, the bedroom was draped in shadows. She lit the candles while he drew the shades. Then they were alone in the half light, a lovers’ light. She lifted her arms to him in a gesture of welcome, and of need.
    He took her in, understanding without being asked that she needed to reaffirm her life, to take back her sense of self. So when she fit her body to his, tilted back her face, offered her mouth, he took gently, he took slowly, wanting her to remember every moment.
    With long, moist kisses, he tasted, and her taste was the same. One firm, possessive stroke from waist to hip, and back.She felt the same. Nuzzling at her throat, he drank in her scent. Beneath that fragile perfume was the unmistakable essence of Julia. That, too, the same.
    He would allow nothing to change between them.
    The jacket slid smoothly from her shoulders. One tiny button at a time he unfastened her blouse, stepping back so he could see each inch of flesh exposed. That same excitement, that same clutching desire stirred in him as he parted the fabric, let it slip from her shoulders to the floor with a sensual whisper.
    “You’re all I’ve ever wanted,” he told her. “Everything I’ve ever needed.” He laid a finger on her lips before she could speak. “No, let me tell you. Let me show you.”
    He touched his mouth to hers, teasing, tempting, then taking her deep until she was drunk from the single kiss. All the while he was murmuring things, beautiful things, as his fingers moved lightly,